Derek Olive’s Blue Dot music cycling tour

I have a talent I’m going to share with you: I can complain better than anybody. I may have a master’s in music, but I deserve a PhD in complaining! For all I was trying to do in my daily life — compost, ride my bike year-round, recycle, buy used, buy local, don’t buy — I was feeling that my choices didn’t matter and all I could do was complain. I decided I needed to connect with my fellow humans and take action beyond my daily life. I started planning a music cycling tour across much of Canada to support the Blue Dot campaign. This summer I will ride 3,000 kilometres with my guitar strapped to my bike, playing concerts and giving talks to get more people excited about the Blue Dot.

Simplicity, clean air, clean water, healthy food — those are what got me interested in the Blue Dot movement. I remember hearing a talk in grade school more than 30 years ago about how the oceans were polluted and how it was starting to affect whales. I was heartbroken. As a child it was simple: if we were hurting the whales we should just stop, period. That clarity is what I get from the Blue Dot. I want clean air, clean water and healthy food, and I want our laws to reflect that.

The whole idea for this tour came from a conversation I had with a friend. We were talking about a song I wrote about monarch butterflies called “Paper Wings”. She said, “You’re looking to create a butterfly effect of positive waves.” As I ride from Vancouver to Montreal, with a train ride from Winnipeg to Toronto, I will be busy feeding my love of all things green by stopping at different organic farms, visiting some eco-friendly homes, camping under the stars and, of course, playing some music!